Metallica’s James Hetfield at Center of Outrage Over Kodiak Bear Hunting Show

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Metallica frontman James Hetfield will narrate The Hunt, an eight-part television series documenting the killing of 12-feet-tall, 1,500-pound Kodiak brown bears in Alaska.

But while some might find Hetfield’s narration a reason to watch the show, others are not so happy he’s participating at all.

The Hunt has already caused early outrage from animal rights activists even before its premiere, resulting in an online petition to have the band removed from their headlining slot at this year’s Glastonbury Festival.

Adding more than 9,000 likes since its May 25 launch, Richard Fraser, the page’s creator, states that “Metallica’s lead singer James Hetfield is a big game hunter and promoter. This is incompatible with Glastonbury Festivals ideals. This page together with its GoogleSites counterpart are an appeal to the organisers of Glastonbury to remove Metallica from their lineup due to James Hetfield’s support of Big Game Hunting.”

Despite the Alaskan laws in favor of regulated sport hunting, others alongside the Facebook group are not pleased with the show glorifying the killing of wild bears.

“Wow–last Metallica anything I will watch or buy. Had no idea they supported this crap. That’s all we need–another Ted Nugent…..” one commenter wrote. Another added that he and others were thinking of protesting Heavy MTL in Montreal, where Metallica is playing the main stage.

Multiple posters took to Twitter to vent their frustrations as well, including user @BladeNeon, who called for a boycott of the band and also unfavorably compared Hetfield to Ted Nugent.